Many want to look at diamonds as if they are cold, hard cash, a misguided view illustrated by Stanley Mark Rifkin’s 1978 caper at Security Pacific National Bank (then in Los Angeles and now defunct). Stan had been running his own computer consulting firm out of his three bedroom San Fernando Valley apartment; and one of his clients was a company that serviced Security Pacific’s computers. He became involved with Security Pacific directly when he was brought in to develop back-up security for their wire transfers. Lord knows they had security problems, but they were not so much technical as human. Though only bank officers were authorized to order wire transfers through the bank’s wire room and only a few responsible officers were given an authorization code that, for added security, changed daily; the execution of the bank’s security procedures was faulty. The wire room’s clerks found it inconvenient to memorize each day’s security code, so they habitually wrote it out on a piece of paper and posted it where all of the clerks in the room might see it. As Stan strolled through the bank he could not help seeing it either; and that seems to have ignited a little larcenous flame in his heart. It was immediately clear to him that with only a little creativity and and some real “brass” he could electronically transfer some of the bank’s cash into an account. “Laundering” the money was another question; and for this purpose he chose Russian diamonds. Diamonds are not only the most transportable form of wealth on the planet, but paying for Russian diamonds would just involve another wire transfer. True, he would have to take delivery of the diamonds out of the country and then bring them in, that could be a little risky; but it was all to be accomplished by an alter-ego “Mike Hanson”. Using this pseudonym, he established two bank accounts to receive the money; and in that far simpler time, also picked up a forged passport that would stand a bit of scrutiny. Then, as Mike Hanson, he organized the purchase of $8 million in Russian diamonds from the Soviet state diamond monopoly, Alrosa. On the big day Stan walked into the wire room on a pretext, read and memorized the day’s security code and walked out, in his own words, feeling like he had just won the lottery. He went straight to a pay phone and, identifying himself as Mike Hanson initiated the wire transfer, first to his bank in New York and then to a Swiss bank account he had established. A few questions made him sweat a bit, but he bulled his way through and $10.2 million was on its way to Switzerland. The next job was collecting the diamonds; and that was easy. He flew to Switzerland, went to his bank, withdrew the money he needed, delivered it to the Russians and received the diamonds, which he promptly put into a money belt and put the money belt on. In that simpler time he flew back to New York with no problems and walked back through customs in New York and was never questioned. Next came what Stan had thought would be the easy part, selling the diamonds. In this he was sadly mistaken. The diamonds were unremarkable and at a disadvantage in the market. At the time much of the diamond business functioned on a system of protracted “memorandum sales”. That is, diamond cutters and dealers left much of their inventory in the hands of retail jewelers who promised to pay for the diamonds as they sold them. When Stan tried to get cash up front for his “nothing special” diamonds few were interested. After all, why invest your capital when your don’t have to? He managed only one sale for $12 thousand; then an associate turned him in to the FBI. When the smoke had cleared, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison and, if its some consolation, made it into the “Guinness Book of World’s Records” for “the biggest computer fraud.” As a footnote, one might note that though the bank recovered the diamonds, it also had a hard time selling them, finally taking a beating on the price and waiting 18 months for the money. As we’ve often learned lately, the market’s the market.

Precious metals are about money. In recent years the automobile industry has driven the price of platinum (for use in catalytic converters) now, with the industry suffering world wide, the price of platinum has declined by more than 15%. Diamonds are about emotions and beauty; and truly remarkable diamonds make clear statements. I was at a wedding reception recently and the bride’s mother had to show me how her diamond wedding ring sparkled in the near darkness. It was her “old” wedding ring, but her husband had had us replace her old diamonds with Hearts On Fire Diamonds – the world’s most perfectly cut diamonds. As we spoke, it was clear to me that she understood the message implicit in the refurbished ring he had re-given her. Though he finds it hard, almost impossible to express his tender emotions verbally, she understood that the diamonds were speaking of his love for her, brilliantly, perfectly. Check out our Hearts On Fire collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to buy the perfect Hearts On Fire to do the talking for you. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers and our Hearts On Fire diamonds will help you realize your dreams.